Delving back into a collective and personal history, Yan Pei Ming’s body of work has been a constant reproduction of male figures, who have had an impact throughout his life. From action figures such as Bruce Lee, to his father and the figure that seems to be the main artistic fodder for Chinese contemporary art: Mao Zedong.
“In recent years the production of what is generically defined as ‘avant-garde’ art in mainland China has been the site of a widespread reemergence of the icon of Mao Zedong, paired in the larger social context with a mass cultural trend focused on the renewed popularity of the figure of the Chairman… …The transition of propagandistic models from ideological dissemination to mass consumption creates an unexpected correspondence between socialist and consumerist systems of mass communication. The Chinese case offers a direct example of the versatility of the propagandistic medium to fulfill opposite ideological orientations within the same society and within the time frame of one generation.” (F. Dal Lago, ‘Personal Mao: reshaping a cultural icon in contemporary Chinese art – Chinese political and cultural leader: Mao Zedong’ in ArtJournal, 1999)
1998 Oil on canvas. 130 x 97 cm. (51 1/8 x 38 1/8 in). Signed, titled and dated ‘"Timonier 009" 98 Yan Pei-Ming [in Chinese and Pinyin]' on the reverse.